Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., successfully evacuated 32 Americans Wednesday who were stranded in Israel unable to find flights home, and he is planning to conduct a second mission in the coming days.
The Florida Republican told Fox News Digital he arranged, with help from the U.S. embassy in Jordan, for the safe passage of 32 Americans stranded in Tel Aviv after multiple airlines canceled flights, transporting them across the Jordanian border.
Mills said all the rescued Americans were able to arrange flights from Jordan to their homes in the United States.
"You know, for me, there's a statesman and there's a politician. One acts and the other one talks, and I just couldn't sit there knowing Americans were losing their lives," Mills told Fox News Digital.
"And, look, I'm not making a massive dent in things. There's thousands of people that are still trapped there. I got 32 people out today, and I hope to get a lot more tomorrow," he said.
Although the mission was successful, it originally didn’t go as planned.
Mills said he originally planned to have an armored vehicle meet him and take the stranded travelers to Jordan. But when plans fell through, he took a taxi to Israel, making new arrangements for the group to escape the war-torn country by bus.
CASUALTIES, KIDNAPPED AND MORE NUMBERS SINCE HAMAS' ATTACK ON ISRAEL
Mills said he made stops in two cities, where the stranded Americans had consolidated into groups.
Mills said that many of his passengers tried unsuccessfully to get help from the U.S. State Department to leave the country.
The current guidance for U.S citizens from the embassy says, "Ben Gurion International Airport remains open, but some flights have been reduced or suspended. U.S. carriers have temporarily suspended flights to Israel. Please check with the airlines on the availability of flights and flight status."
Mills said many of the major airlines canceled flights out of Tel Aviv because a rocket fired into the country by Hamas hit close enough to the airport that insurance companies told the airlines they wouldn’t provide full coverage for aircraft, adding to the logistical dilemma of the stranded Americans.
Mills, who has served in Congress since January, said his absence during the fraught House GOP speakership discussions is worth the cost.
"I mean, there's Americans who are sitting here dying. There's hostages being taken … lives that are being lost. And I just feel like when you have an opportunity where you're blessed with the capability to be able to do something about it, how can you not?" Mills said.
"This went very smoothly. I'm blessed. I feel like I was very lucky in this one and, you know, I want to continue to be able to do more."
Mills said he expects to take more missions to evacuate stranded American citizens from Israel in the coming days.
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem told Fox News Digital that U.S. citizens seeking to be in touch with the U.S. Embassy in Israel should visit the website cacms.state.gov/s/crisis-intake or call +1-833-890-9595 and +1-606-641-0131. Any notifications from the Embassy can be found at https://il.usembassy.gov/category/alert/.
